Kiss Your Apocalypse
by koyoote
Summary: Post-EIP. The gang seems to be back into prime time fighting condition. Finally! Now all they need to do is refine their strategy, get back into training, and-what's a seer doing here? And what's a guardian spirit? Zuko, what's happened now? Three-shot.
1. A Smile and the Burn

Kiss Your Apocalypse: For the Last Last Time

_Scarlet Rose_

**A Smile and the Burn that I Put on My Arm: the Day You Went Away Girl**

"Again!"

Licks of fire exploded across the air, fickle in their potency, but beautiful all the same. Beauty was not an asset that the two training benders were looking for.

"Again!"

The move was repeated, this time with a little more force. Frustration bled into the flames of the young boy. The older male deflected the attack with ease, unsatisfied with his pupil's strength.

"Again!"

Flame was followed with a huge gush of exertion, capable of being heard from the student to the teacher across their dueling arena. Yet again the dark haired male was ready for it. At least, he was for a moment.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

The voice was an outsider's, but not unfamiliar. This voice was why the teacher was ready for only a moment. The shout had startled him into turning towards the intruder with his defensive stance, only to barely dodge the blow from his pupil. The glancing flame brought a surprised yelp as the damage was inflicted across the outside of his forearm. As he split the flame against his pain, his pupil and sometimes companionable friend were rushing to him.

"Zuko!" The ex-prince did not fall to his knees but clutched his pained arm to his chest. His guilty student reached him first with a burst of expert airbending. But Zuko barely spared the last airbending Avatar a glance, preferring to place the blame of his hurts on the intruder.

"What do you think you're doing interfering with Aang's training?" he snidely said to the approaching waterbender. Her look was indignant, yet still prideful. The Avatar could do nothing but stand helplessly as once again a petty squabble erupted between his teachers.

"Don't blame your wounds on me, the only reason why you're hurt is because you're pushing Aang too hard!" she defended herself swiftly, crossing her medicinal arms to his injuries. Zuko quickly came to the conclusion that she wouldn't heal his injury even though it was clearly her fault, in his mind. He let her know it too.

"The only reason I got hurt was because you distracted me!" Yet Zuko restrained himself from mentioning that if she had distracted Aang from his bending, Aang would've been hurt because of his lack of control when summoning the deadly element. It would've only made his student feel bad in his lack of training.

Aang, his tattooed body exhausted from his exertion into his exercises, was prepared to walk away from the familiar fight when he noticed the tension escalated with the next comment.

"Hah! Don't blame others because you're not as good as you think you are," hadn't Aang heard this somewhere before? The blue clothed girl wasn't yet done, "Do you really think pushing Aang so hard will accomplish anything? The more you push him, the more underprepared he'll be to face the Fire Lord!"

"Now wait just a sec-"

"With the way you baby him, it's surprising that he's learned waterbending at all!" Once again, the peaceful Avatar is ignored in favor of their spat. Hazel eyes rolled to the sky with a hopeless plea for mercy on his ears to whatever spirit will listen.

Angry sea-colored eyes glared up at the glowing eyes of their mock foe, "It's not babying him if I'm not pushing him to hurt me or himself, unlike your teaching strategy!" Zuko's jaw clenched at her insult. Obviously, she had no clue what she was talking about, "Quit endangering people, you jerk!"

Okay, that was the last straw. Aang could see it in his teacher's body stance and the way his eyes turned to slits, glaring down at the brazen Water Tribe girl. Zuko said nothing else to the seething girl. How could he know that her rage was driven by fear? Fear for both his and Aang's sakes?

The firebender turned on heel without warning, stalking off into the closest thicket near the house property. She stared on, slightly stunned that she had actually pushed him far enough to make him do this. The underbrush smoked visibly after withstanding Zuko's overbearing temper.

"Katara…" Aang began, though fell short when his sifu merely huffed in a displeased fashion. She too turned on heel and stomped into the ancient Fire Nation vacation home. Had she been a firebender, perhaps she would've burned through the doors as well. She had to settle for slamming the paper sliding doors shut as hard as possible to express her own frustration.

Seeing as he was short one fire and one waterbending teachers, Aang decided to cut his losses and search out Toph, his master metalbending teacher that had been giving him lessons on the beach sand. He would be early for his lessons, but compared to the task of keeping peace between fire and water, the strong little earthbender would be a stress reliever.

* * *

The former Fire Prince knew these woods well, having grown up for a long time in the back of them. It was after his mother left that they stopped coming to Ember Island every summer. Then he came sparingly with his uncle until Iroh's campaign on the Earth Kingdom and Lu Ten was lost to Ba Sing Se's walls. Still, despite the overgrowth and new game trails, his developed sense of direction led his feet onto the road.

It was a back road that followed behind most of the vacation houses in the area and made discreet little turns into the mountain village. The very same village where he and Katara had tracked down her mother's murderer. The memory made Zuko pinch the bridge of his nose, irritated by their spat, but more so by how easily they got under each other's skin and didn't bother not to crawl out of the skin afterwards.

Their fights were like breathing, it had to be done, and if it wasn't they would suffocate under the tension. Sometimes it wasn't even because they got on each others nerves, but simply because the other person was there and the electricity… Zuko blamed it on their opposing elements being in close contact. Then there were times when they didn't have to fight. When the other needed comfort, they could come together with a few words. Sadness or whatever emotion could ebb away and leave space once again for the tension they created in each other.

He sighed, resisting from collapsing where he stood, knowing that they really needed to have a common focus in order to avoid such elemental collisions. Apparently training the Avatar was not one such common focus when the both of them were battling for dominant teacher role. Though in hindsight, Zuko could assume that Toph was the more domineering of the three of them. Perhaps he ought to take a look at her teaching style sometime later that day.

The slight sound of dirt rustling caught his sudden attention. Reflexes, heightened from the recent fight, brought adrenaline to the surface, ready for use and flames at his fingertips. Slightly higher up the road, though closer than he expected, stood a man dressed in white robes with a tall walking stick. Zuko's mind identified the possible weapon and threat before seeing the piece of cloth across the man's eyes.

But it was too late. The man stiffened in sudden knowledge that another being was there with a fierce power. Blind as he was, the man raised his walking stick strictly in the former Prince's direction. Struck by the strangeness of it all, Zuko stilled with the sudden move and was too late to dodge any attack. An incantation, too quick for human ears, brought forth a bright light and unique force.

His arms were a meaningless defense as the force drove him backwards, and a searing pain spasmed across his body, seeming as if his very soul was screaming in pain. As his mouth opened in a delayed cry of agony, a mindless howl erupted inhumanely from his form. And in that moment, the blind man saw something for the first time in a long while. Another spirit akin to his own, yet not trapped in human form.

The great wolf spirit struck back, driving the blind man's power against him and knocking him off the road. But having materialized to rescue a very important human piece in the fabric of destiny, the great wolf could not return immediately to the Spirit World again until he was sure his charge was safe. His charge, Zuko, was not the same as he was moments before. His mind and body were holed away while the great wolf toiled himself into resealing the Fire Prince's soul back into his damaged body.

Soon, all traces of the spiritual attack would vanish, save for one important point. The great wolf's body, now Zuko's body, exhausted from his task of healing human flesh, would not leave his charge.


	2. Forgetting to Forget

Kiss Your Apocalypse: For the Last Last Time

_Scarlet Rose_

**Forgetting to Forget that You're Not Mine**

"…_my dear boy, I am sorry… Truly sorry…_

_How could you ever forgive this old man of his err? It is impossible, I'm…_

_…god has protected you, He will see to your safety and I will…_

_Awaken lad, _no, awaken hero."

In and out, in and out. Over and over, repeated like a mantra until Zuko eased out of his dreamless sleep. Amber eyes opened slowly, blurrily taking in the green earth and words that passed through his head. Sensation came to him again; this time, strangely, it was the smells that assaulted his nose that he came upon first. The fresh rain grass was pleasing, and then he felt a hand at his side… Stroking him?

He yelped, startled and tried to thrust himself to his feet.

The power of his legs brought him straight up in the air, to walk like a two-legged man. Then his balance abandoned him and he could feel the alien body as if it were a second skin. He fell jaw first with what were once arms flailing uselessly to break his fall. A hand, this much he knew, touched something that shouldn't have been on his body and he crawled away hurriedly. It was only when his paws were in front of him did he realize what they were.

Paws.

He had paws. They looked like wolf-bat legs, yet thinner, sleak, but with shiny black claws, and no webbing. In that instant he was scared to see the rest of himself. What in the world-

"Do not panic, friend."

The voice he recognized from his sleep did not panic him; he felt as if this person had been there the whole time. But as he turned his head, the one movement that his body did agree with, his heart rate sped to near cardiac arrest.

"Fear not, boy, I have not done this to you. You are the way you are now because of your guardian spirit," the man spoke softly, slightly afraid of Zuko running off with no chance of normalcy again. What would the Spirit World say to their seer then, if he chased off the Fire Nation's chance for peace? Zuko himself could only watch in amazement. Truly the man was blind. The swath of cloth over his eyes proved that, and the blindly searching hand groped as if to be certain that Zuko had not run off. Indeed, it was the sheer foreign feeling that his body exuded that stilled his strangely shaped muscles, "Please listen, otherwise you may never return to your true self."

This caught the newly born animal's attention. Ears that he could feel on the top of his head perked and his mouth opened to relieve his once adrenaline filled body. Panting seemed to release the heat, as it was strange that this furred body could not sweat like humans. Besides the slight moisture from the rain-run grass, he felt completely dry. The fur was thick.

But the mixed yelp and grunt that came from the new muzzle startled him more fiercely than seeing the unknown man after his unconsciousness. Throat closing up in the fear, it was belatedly relaxed when the man laughed in a friendly manner.

"Yes, I had guessed that you would be fully taken by the wolf's spirit," once again, Zuko's ears pricked at the mention of his new species. A wolf, was he? "You are the grandson of Fire Lord Sozen and Avatar Roku, yes." It was not a question of confirmation. He knew it for a fact. And how could he? But by now, Zuko was becoming used to this man's surprises. He crawled side-ways, barely lifting his body above the ground in a shaky attempt to face the stranger. A one-sided conversation was not entirely agreeable, but there was nothing that Zuko knew of that would allow him to communicate to a blind man, besides the spoken word.

"You are the one destined to change the Fire Nation. You are an integral part of history and that is why your guardian spirit, the Great Wolf, has come to the world below to protect you," the blind man's words were his own thoughts following his destiny. However, he did not think that he was important enough for a spirit to descend to the earth to protect. But the young ex-prince continued to listen, and inspect this 'wolf' body of his. The tail he found most fascinating, especially learning how to move it, "Why the Great Wolf, a symbol of the Water Tribe is your guardian I do not know. But Spirits do not choose their charges based on nationality, but on character…"

For a moment, silence made Zuko shift his focus entirely on the seer. He sat in a traditional seated position of a man of high rank with his hands on his knees. His plain, pale face stared up at the heavens above, as if they held the answer to Zuko's mystery. But this would not return him to his human form, and the boy turned wolf impatiently tapped the man's knee with his padded paws, still uncertain of his voice.

The man spooked slightly, but then smiled downwards with a face that Zuko had seen on Toph when searching for the direction of their conversing partner, "But that does not matter now. I am very sorry for trying to harm you. As I understand you have a sibling, one who does not see the way of her grandfather Roku, but of Sozen," the words paused, as if hesitant on the subject. Zuko didn't care for talk of his sister, but did not protest, "It was her I was intending to break of spirit. Without her to fight, the final battle would be much easier for you," and, oh, how Zuko agreed, "But I do not see very clearly, I can only see vague feelings of lineage and power. Yours must surely rival her own to draw me into a panic," he chuckled, the joke his own, "But you are only interested in returning to your own body."

At this end, the strange man stood, dusting dew and grass from his crisp robes. Their style reminded Zuko of Aang's clothing, yet colorless. He invited Zuko to stand, and the wolf found with little concentration he could call the muscles to his bidding. Still, standing on four legs was foreign. He was lower to the ground and could see it much more clearly. He could also scent out a recent scent trail from the road, a koa-lamb. When your sense of smell was so sharp, it was no wonder that the canine species developed closer to the ground, Zuko thought vaguely.

"Now, if you could, lead me to your companions," Zuko listened with a suspicious gaze, lifting his heavy head to the height of the man, as if to look in the eye and call his bluff, "I believe that it is your friends that will be the most useful in knowing your condition and helping you out of it. Otherwise, you could become stuck like that."

The explanation made sense, regrettably. Slowly, the newly born wolf started forward, catching his own scent, which he recognized in an instinctive way, from the close vegetation. Easing himself into the body of wolf, he tried desperately not to reject the spirit within him. It eased the tension and babe-like feeling in his limbs. Standing straighter, Zuko took a few hesitant steps forward, then looking behind him over his shoulder. The blind man stood peacefully, and noting the lack of movement spoke.

"I can follow your presence. Just do not leave me too far behind." And Zuko wondered if that would be possible, surely it was be very strange to run on this body, made for four legs of powerful sprints and leaps. But he started the journey, nevertheless.

The path was slightly broken in from his burning leave of their temporary home and easier to follow than a komodo rhino. Zuko winced at his foolishness; this could've led anyone straight to the Avatar and their troop. Every time he came across a root that was raised from the ground, he watched the blind man seem to intuitively step over it. It was like watching Toph, but with a slower, easier gate. Their encampment was close now, and he could just barely smell the scent of cooking. Like fire, rice, meat, and iron, all the scents mixed together to what was foreign, yet decidedly dinner.

Was it really so late? How long had he been out?

Sensing the hesitation of stepping forward, the seer almost spoke. He was cut off by the voices through their final thicket, invisible unless searched for by the others due to the high leaves and setting sun.

"It's been hours, we really should go look for him. I don't think he went hunting." The young voice of the Avatar perked Zuko's attention, making him lean forward to see the boy through the branches. He was still in the robes he'd trained in, talking to a moving person.

"He probably did and couldn't catch anything. I bet he's just sulking." Katara. Zuko's hackles raised slightly, irritation drawing the fur to a stand. But the man's hand on his shoulder stilled him, the smile on his blind face annoyed the firebender, but he complied to listen further.

"I mean it, Katara. What if he got captured, or got hurt or something?"

"He's a big boy; he can take care of himself." Oh, how humiliating this will be, to arrive in a state of distress…

"But Katara…" A sigh signaled her resignation.

"Fine, if he doesn't come back by night fall, you can go looking for him." It was satisfactory enough to the Avatar. Aang easily fell deaf to the fact that Katara made a pointed show of not being involved in Zuko's search. Apparently this was the opening the blind man had been looking for. He stepped through the brambles, to Zuko's initial shock, and spoke calmly to their shocked faces.

"I believe that won't be necessary, my good Avatar, waterbender."


	3. Flicker, Flicker

Kiss Your Apocalypse: For the Last Last Time

_Scarlet Rose_

**Flicker, Flicker, Dim and Fade to Black**

Regret was the first thing that Zuko would later recall feeling. He should've made the blind man speak with him first. He should've decided whether or not to involve the others and whether it was smart to lead a complete stranger into their camp. Especially when the man wields such great spiritual magic as to tear apart his soul.

The wolf in him whined pathetically, fearful of their reaction and what his stupidity may have caused. Dear Agni, he wanted to both run away and attack the man with vicious abandon. Perhaps that was true difference between he and his sister he thought with irony: impulse control. Or maybe it was the wolf…

"Who are you?" came the quick question from Katara, already standing at the ready for an attack. But the question came at the same time as Aang's, "What do you mean?"

It was apparent that all boys were imbeciles. Zuko had trusted the man blindly—oh, the _irony_, so painful—just after he attacked him, and Aang was following in his footsteps. Which was enough to rile a protective, parental feeling through him. He may have led the man to the Avatar, but he sure as hell wasn't going to get any closer.

The leap from the brush felt exhilarating: all of his smaller, more powerful, muscles scrunching, flexing—bulging. And in a flash he was before the man, facing him with teeth showing, a scowl on his wolven face, hackles drawn, and tail flung high. He barely caught a glimpse of fearful blue and hazel eyes before readying himself against the blind man.

Snarls erupted from his throat and he almost scared himself with their violent sounds, somehow more savage than even a saber-tooth-platypus-bear's roar. Already he could smell the fear from his companions and yet nothing was emitted from the blind man. Still unused to his senses, Zuko just noticed that the man did not carry a scent. Even the dead carried scents. The lack of one terrified him.

"So you do not wish to return, boy?"

The blind man's meaning was not lost on him, but it felt like blackmail. The snarls stopped, his position and stance held. At his back he could sense the Avatar come closer, probably intrigued, but he stopped short, realizing that the man was speaking to the wolf.

"That's better, lad," he continued. His tone was indifferent, yet amused, and it sent Zuko's hair on end in indignation. But emotions of complexity were difficult to feel in this body. It was easier just to be angry, just to want to protect. It was easier to stick to one goal: protecting the group first. Then he could try and get his body.

Restraining himself, Zuko did a full body shake, forcing the strange feelings to abide. The strength of these emotions left him numb, just as when he'd awoken in this body. Perhaps the body was the thing that set his mind on edge and the flight or fight instinct on first choice. Certainly not all of his actions were violent or cowardly. It was the wolf, fooling with his brain, meshing with it and giving him new ideas and priorities.

"Now then, Miss, Avatar," he addressed the two people at his back and Zuko stilled, "I'd like to reintroduce you to the Fire Nation Prince."

Oh, this was rich. Hilarious even.

Abso-fucking-lutely fantastic. Why didn't he just turn Zuko on his back and slice him open instead? A distinctive frown graced the wolf's face and his ears folded back, tail sliding to between his legs instinctively. Turning slowly he could see the consternation on Katara's confused face and the shocked one on Aang's.

"Oh, dear La," were Katara's first words when she looked closely at the wolf's face. There, just where the fire caught light in his amber eyes was some discoloration. In all of the massive wolf's silver fur was a dull white across his left eye. As if grown over a scar…

Aang's legs collapsed under him, folding flat to the ground on his rump, "Huh?" was his intelligent reply.

Now the blind man was looking at him insistently—how the blind man could tell where he was, he didn't know, "Well, do something Zuko. Don't make me look like an insane old geezer."

Tempting… He'd be relieved of any embarrassment, harassment, or gawking stares. But then again, he may not get his body back either. The exiled Prince dearly wanted to turn away, but instead tried to think of a more Zuko-ish action. Could he even firebend anymore?

"Z-Zuko?" Katara stumbled over words, looking all the while like she'd seen a ghost. The wolf was her tribal animal, but it had gone extinct long ago. She'd probably never seen one before, only heard of legends. Thoughts flying from his mind, Zuko's face upturned to her at his name. This seemed to be enough for the waterbender quickly flew forward, startling the Fire Prince.

She came close, first putting both hands to his face and staring into one eye then the other, and afterwards tracing the soft fur around his left eye. Golden pools widened, realizing that the scar must still be there and perhaps the body was closer to his own than he'd thought. Swallowing, Katara looked up, first to the stupefied Avatar then the stranger.

"What happened to him?" she asked quietly, fearfully, Zuko deduced through scent. A whine pierced the air as Zuko responded to her fear and instinctively licked her closest hand. She flinched, so Zuko backed away.

It was strange how a person with half of their face covered could possibly look thoughtful, but the man did, turning his attention to the still silent Aang, "Avatar? Are you quite alright?"

"Yeah," came the boy's immediate answer. It was too quick, sharp even, to be true answer. But it was a response at least, "I've never seen a wolf before…"

"Magnificent creatures, yes," the stranger answered with slight pause, everyone knowing that that was not the least bit of what Aang was thinking, but hoping for the best all the same. Leaning on his walking stick, he spoke again, "Would it be alright for me to explain it to the entire group over dinner?"

Zuko's hackles rose on new-instinct, then lowered. It was a stupid primeval thing, Zuko concluded, to dislike this man now after he'd allowed him into camp. Perhaps this Great Wolf spirit didn't feel at ease after Zuko had commandeered the body to leap and threaten, rather than neutrally lead on like any normal person.

"Katara?" Aang asked, breaking his stare at Zuko and looking to her for advice. At first the girl was indecisive, then looked back down at the silver wolf near her waist.

"You owe me."

* * *

"Let's go over this again… Zuko is… A wolf."

"Yes that's almost right."

"Almost?"

The blind man, now labeled a seer for the Spirit World through introduction, smiled appealingly to the young warrior sitting next to him around the small fire set up outside the estates. Toph groaned in frustration opposite of him.

"Almost means the spirit wolf-y thing right?" Toph reaffirmed. It had been explained to them mostly. Zuko, meanwhile wanted nothing to do with this conversation, promptly sat himself next to Toph to let her play her blind hands through his fur at the start of dinner.

The 'gist' of the story was that this seer for the Spirit World had accidentally tried to separate Zuko's soul from his body, and his guardian spirit, the Great Wolf, didn't like that. Not at all really. So the Great Wolf had decided that until this fragile piece of the human puzzle was entirely safe, he wouldn't be leaving.

But the most important question was how to make a spirit feel 'safe'. And how safe did one have to be before the spirit decided it was 'safe' to leave Zuko back in his own body?

"So we've got to make the Great Wolf feel safe?" Aang restated. Yes, that was the answer, Zuko thought painstakingly. These companions of his weren't the daftest people he'd ever known, but waiting around in a four-legged, furred body could sure make one think so. There was also the fact that he was unsure of how to make this invading spirit feel protected and wanted the other's ideas as well.

"That's right."

"Safe, huh? This isn't good enough?" Sokka complained with a skeptical tone. Yet in all honesty, he was right, "He's in his own country, in his own house, surrounded by people who won't kill him, and he's getting a massage; this isn't safe enough?"

"_I resent that_," Zuko tried to proclaim through a series of growls, lifting his head in the other, more _human_, boy's direction. Toph giggled almost childishly, sifting her fingers up his neck to feel the triangular ears that sat atop his head, once again. She seemed to like them, or at least like irritating him, as he couldn't stop them from twitching every time her small hands brushed their soft fur.

His actions garnered little attention from anyone else though. Aang had grown used to idea of the large wolf as his firebending teacher after the story involving advanced amounts of Spirit World politics. Toph rather enjoyed laughing at him while petting him like an animal. Suki eyed him warily, but that wasn't really new, and Sokka was really against anything 'hocus pocus' but what could he say when there was something like _this_ happening before his eyes?

Katara? Well, Katara had been staring at him with an odd expression intermediately throughout the tale, hardly sparing the seer a glance. It was unnerving actually.

A reserved silence seemed to have fallen across the camp after Zuko's movement. They were probably thinking about ways of making him feel 'safe' and while Zuko disliked the amount of thought that was occurring that was focused on his being; there was really nothing he could do. So he sat by the fire, and kept warm, letting the little blind girl comb his fur over and over again.

"Well, I should be off," the seer suddenly started, rudely interrupting the thoughtful silence. This statement heightened the camp's tension and ran a train through it with the next one, "There's really nothing more I can do here."

"What-!" Suki started, startled.

"Hey, wait a minute-" Here was Aang, pacifist as usual.

"You can't leave! You started this mess!"

But the seer was already leaving, and while Zuko approved of Sokka's argument, he couldn't help but agree. Obviously the seer couldn't reverse the damage he'd done, so he'd rather the stranger be gone.

"But you see, I can't finish this '_mess_'. I'm merely a stranger with no capable way to make Prince Zuko feel safe." Agreed, stranger, now leave.

Ah, the wolf was getting hasty once more. Zuko, after a few hours of listening to converse and deliberating his mood swings, had finally been able to differentiate between his own rational thoughts, and the wolf's primitive ones. That's not to say that the wolf had a terrible thought process, it was just inappropriate to want to piss on the seer's feet when he previously held the answer to getting his body back.

Now however, both essences were in agreement, the man should leave.

And leave he did.

"Well now what do we do?" Aang complained, albeit a little miserably. He didn't have much experience with the Spirit World save for Roku and Hei Ban. And this wasn't exactly the same. Appeasing a spirit was relatively simple. Convincing it that its charge was safe? Who knew?

"We make Zuko feel as safe as possible. That's all we can do," Katara spoke, almost hauntingly, for the first time that evening. Zuko felt chills; her tone practically screamed at him to be as accommodating as possible. He lay his head down, uncooperative ears flickering back in submission.

"We're living in his house, it can't be that hard," Sokka proclaimed. Suki nodded next to him and it seemed to be a compelling argument to stand up for some odd reason or another that Zuko couldn't figure out. He stayed on the soft grass, contemplating the meaning of life, or something far more distracting and irrelevant.

But as the group stood and he stayed, he was beginning to feel their eyes like fire in the back of his skull. Katara stood purposefully in front of him and eventually he raised his eyes to her, "Stand."

Again, his skin chilled, causing a wave through his fur in the firelight. He cocked his head defiantly, as if to say 'why', but a second longer of her glare and he was up on all fours. Grumbling, but standing up nonetheless.

Zuko followed them with a downtrodden pace, head hanging low. Curiously, he wondered if he'd ever given implication that this house made him feel particularly safe and then if he should try to communicate this to the others. Stalking after the others in the Fire Nation vacation house he decided on a negative. Besides, what if they got lucky?

"So the first place to start: bedroom?" Suki started, putting one hand on her hip in a laid back stance. She didn't have much riding on Zuko's well-being, but she might as well try. While receiving a fairly positive response, meaning not entirely numb or freaked out, Zuko and Katara started on the trek through the miniature mansion. Aang and Toph followed closely behind.

The strangeness of the experience was slowly ebbing away. It's easier to think of the situation as a mission, rather than what it actually is. Zuko paused before his doorway, waiting for Katara, standing next to him, to open the sliding apparatus.

As soon as it was open, he made for his large bed, ringed with belled insect net. Perfect for the deterrent of insects and assassins. The group entered his room while he slipped under the translucent fabric, jingling it as he went, and hopping up on the now eye-level furniture.

Feeling immensely awkward, his companions positioned themselves along the wall, sitting as they pleased and glancing at each other. But as they seemed to settle, eyes trained on him, from hazel to blue and it unnerved him. Then again, a lot of things seemed to unnerve him now, "Maybe he's got to fall asleep."

Sokka's sudden words did not fall on deaf ears, "Sleep? What's that got to do with this?" Toph added, face contorting in a scowl.

Yet Suki seemed to understand, of course she was dating the warrior-boy, "Actually that's pretty smart. People usually need to feel at ease in order to sleep, or just plain exhausted."

"True, but then he could fall asleep if he wanted to right now, right?" Aang asked innocently, his expression still confounded on the wolf's gaze.

"_They talk as if I've gone deaf and dumb_," Zuko silently complained, turning his head away from the conversation. It was easier that way, to pretend that he was eavesdropping than them just plain ignoring him, like they've done all evening.

Silence pervaded them on Aang's question, until Toph became fed up with it, "Hey Hot-wolf! You sleepy over there?"

A low growl settled easily in his throat, surprising him with how little effort and breath it took to continue the sound. A soft 'take that as a no' that he could barely hear came from someone behind him, who he couldn't tell despite his flickering ears.

"Well, anyone got any brighter ideas?" Sokka whined slightly, probably annoyed that his plan would be slow to succeed if it did. His blue eyes studied his companions, noticing all of them in some form of contemplation save for Katara who simply stared at the silver wolf lying on the over-sized mattress.

"Milk sometimes helps me sleep," Suki contributed first.

"Singing might work too," Aang continued, though his comment gained few positive remarks.

"Yeah, but who could sing in this group? I've never heard anyone do it." Toph's girly voice of wisdom knocked down the suggestion swiftly. Just in time for Sokka to raise it.

"Actually, that might be a good idea. We don't really know what wolves drink anyway. And Mom used to sing me and Katara to sleep when we were little," never mind the fact that she was only alive when they were young, "You can sing a little, right Katara?"

Her trance seemed to have broken, leaving her blue eyes startled before the rest of the crew, "Um, not really. I've never tried," and she wasn't sure Zuko would appreciate her efforts judging from the annoyed flicker in his tail.

"It's a good shot though," encouraged Aang, feeling some hope after a long period of confusion. Things seemed to click in Katara's mind afterwards, her blank gaze slowly ebbing into one of thought and interest.

"Good enough," she agreed, "But I think you guys should get to bed," Sokka could barely argue before she started again, "Honestly, what if it takes all night because wolves don't sleep as much or something? Even then, it would be best if you guys were well rested if it doesn't work by tomorrow."

There was little denying the suggestion, though it was a some what reluctant one. The waterbender was taking the job onto her own shoulders when there were four others feeling empty-handed. Still, Sokka suggested that she simply didn't want to sing to all of them after they had left the room.

Parting ways throughout the house, they slowly crept into their Fire Nation beds and tried not to contemplate the 'wolf' issue at hand too hard. The Spirit World was still like magic to Sokka, Suki, and even Toph at times; and Aang didn't have the greatest desire to become familiar with the dangerous spiritual realm, but in order to sleep that night promised himself that he would try to find Avatar Roku or another spirit to help Zuko if the situation wasn't remedied by tomorrow.

During this time of Aang's promise, Zuko had fully captured Katara's attention again. This time, for warranted action. His silver head had popped up swiftly after the crew had left, then waited while his ears swiveled, catching sounds of sleep and awaiting silence. As soon as he was satisfied he met the girl's blue eyes and slipped from under the bed netting. He would need only one person to do what he wanted to do.

Golden eyes paused at the door, staring as if willing the exit to move. When it didn't he turned to wear Katara still sat, watching him with a curious gaze. The form of her ancestral animal invoked a source of awe and quiet within her, but the obvious look of 'Zuko' across his features prompted speech.

"Not comfortable in your own bed, huh?"

Zuko shook his furry head slowly, as if responding to a dull child. She raised an eyebrow, semi-amused before standing and pacing towards him.

"Don't want me to sing you to sleep?"

The grimace on the wolf's face might've been funny had the situation been different, but she settled for an indignant 'hey', a slap on the back of his doggy head, and then opened the door for him.

The wolf's body seemed to glide effortlessly at a trot, slipping back and forth between the hallway walls, sniffing different doors mutely. Not entirely sure what it was he was looking for, Zuko just settled on wondering about. His room gave him the creeps; no one knew it, but he slept in the den while everyone else went to their rooms. Of course, they couldn't know, he went to sleep last and woke up first, so they had assumed he slept in his old room.

Katara followed with a curious gait, walking just fast enough to keep the meandering wolf in view. Still unused to considering the creature Zuko, her thoughts randomly trailed to the legends she'd heard surrounding the Great Wolf and his ancestors. Then Zuko stopped, nearing the entrance of the large den in the estate.

He looked at her over his shoulder, confirming that she was still there, before waltzing inside the room. The waterbender, meanwhile, shivered at his rather human gold gaze and forced her feet to follow him.

The room was warm, like it always was in the evening. A large gaping window faced the western sun, making this the perfect place to spend the twilight. Despite the night's coolness the area still retained the sun's heat, and the nearby moon shined on Zuko's fur like a caress.

Finally, he became still before the couch-like futon. His ears flickered in irritation and Katara thought he was thinking about how he would sit on it. Indeed he was, and he was also reminded on the irritating fact that he didn't have arms or opposable thumbs. Haltingly, he gathered himself on top of the sofa, easing himself on folded paws, the wolf's form taking up a much larger space than he'd thought.

Just before settling completely his wolf-man eyes caught her stare, intuition making the girl come sit next to him. She sat very still, watching him with wariness. Katara had seen his teeth, and they looked more dangerous than any firebender she could think of. But suspicious thoughts were eased when he seemed to nervously edge forward and place his head on her lap.

Not fully, but just enough to lay his cheek against her thigh. She swallowed thickly, a mix of emotions toiling her actions before she finally decided to lay a tanned hand on his furry shoulder. A sigh escaped his nose, expressing both frustration and exhaustion for the day. Katara smiled, amused by his very human action.

Zuko had fairly given into the wolf by the time he'd tried to figure out how to sit on a couch again. He let the wolf's instincts lead him into the most comfortable position, then wondered what Katara was doing, standing there blankly. When she sat next to him, smelling of nerves, the wolf in him desired to calm her. That's what packs did, they helped each other, a part of him seemed to insist.

So he tried to comfort her, knowing that Toph had liked his ears, he haltingly put his head on her lap. Even as he couldn't see her smile, he felt her body relax. This pleased him and slowly he drifted into a doze, her scent in his nose and fatigue catching up to him.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, about Aang," Katara whispered, believing him to be asleep and feeling a little guilty. Besides the awe of having a wolf close by, she'd also been thinking about how Zuko had gotten himself into trouble because of her fear and anger. Slowly she started to stroke his fur, finding comfort just like the earthbender did.

Zuko shifted his head, pushing his forehead against her stomach, the closest he could come to really accepting her apology without words or mass gesture. Blue eyes widened before smiling down on him again, gently stroking his cheek with the scar. She understood, and for one small instance very rare in Zuko's life, he felt safe.

Dawn would approach that morning, waking neither of the exhausted benders, but eventually rousing the rest of the pack. Suki and Toph would approach quietly, still half-asleep, when they would see, or sense rather, two of their companions in the room.

There, curled up on the sofa, would be a very human Zuko spooning with a sleepy waterbender under his arm.


End file.
